Faithfully Yours
by Hasegawa
Summary: The reverse of You Become My Light and My Darkness. Arthur is a foreign boy stranded in an exotic land. Fate pulled him towards Wang Yao, the Imperial family member. And nobody knows what the future brings. UK X China, Rate T for now.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Faithfully yours

Rating: Now, T. in the future, M. Of course.

Summary: The reverse of You Become My Light and My Darkness. Arthur is a foreign boy stranded in an exotic land. Fate pulled him towards Wang Yao, the Imperial family member. And nobody knows the future.

Pairings: UK X China.

Note: I know I said I didnt want to write anymore, but it is holiday, I have heaps of free time, so here we are, one my promise to write the reverse of YBMLnMD. Merry x mast and Happy new year, everyone!

Enjoy!

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><p>The story started in the Yan Dynasty, a considerably new kingdom set about 11th century. Yan Dynasty stood from the Western sea till the middle part of the Gobi Desert. It was divided into smaller sections and areas; each has their own governor and their own specific rules. Every governors answer to the Emperor personally, and the feudal system were maintained through five generations of kings already.<p>

The present Emperor—who was crowned 5 years ago—is a young man with great wisdom and strict moral code, so underneath him the whole kingdom prospered for the last 5 years. Under his control, he started to open his business trading to foreign countries. This is particularly unique since all other neighbourhood kingdoms were scared or reluctant from 'tainting' themselves with the foreign countries ideology—especially the Westerners. The Emperor was trying to open up his people's view on the world—something that quite modern for people of his time. When he introduced the concept a few years back, his people second guessed their Emperor's rationality. However, the opposing argument decreased after some times, especially after people realized that their trading became better and how Western technology, ideology and customs brought some good, if not, interesting stuff to look at. Not everybody liked the decision, but everybody knew that it was a good one since they had became significantly wealthier than their neighbourhood kingdoms by doing the foreign trading.

The Xiang Hai Bian (literally: Fragrance Sea Coast) harbour is a crowded place; it is one of the only three ports available for sea transportation and distributions in the Yan Dynasty. People came and go; local and foreign alike. This particular port was famous for its spice and fabric business. Foreign people from foreign lands came to the port to make trading, gold and silver and metal for tea, specific spices and cotton silk. Local people prosper from the business; and it became the biggest port in the Kingdom. However, it was still dominated with black-haired men. Although they opened internationally, most of their trading partners were Asians such the likes of neighbourhood areas, Japan, Southern Asia, or Russian. So the sight of a small skinny boy with blond hair and bushy eyebrows invited more than casual stares.

The boy looked like he was lost and he was definitely running away from something. He looked around, but never stopped running. He slipped between people, and he felt people's stares on him as he passed. He cursed himself, wishing for the first time that he should be born with darker hair than his sandy, if not brilliant golden hair.

His eyes were green, clear like emeralds. His small limbs moved as fast as he could, through the sea of people shouting and advertising their stuffs. He looked around; trying to make sense of the roads; but everywhere he looked everybody looked the same—small almost non-existent two lines eyes, black hair, same layers of clothes tied together with obi-like cloth. He knew he was definitely lost; but he wasn't scared at all. Being a slave inside a pirate ship was scarier. But now he had run away, and he needs to continue to run away, to his freedom.

His stomach grumbled. He ignored it. He has no time or money to eat.

But the hunger ate his attention—and he lost his balance for a bit. He fell to the ground, after tripping over a sharp stone. He was barefooted; so the sharp stone on the road tore open his sole. He moaned a bit over the pain, and it attracted a few people's attention.

The harbour wasn't the friendliest part of the kingdom, but it is one of the safest places. The Emperor knew the importance of safety and strong security in harbour as it is the place most vulnerable to attack and other bad manipulations, so the heavily trained security guards were placed everywhere. One of the said guards happened to be patrolling around when he saw the poor boy with bleeding foot; so he came nearer and offered help.

The boy snarled at him, and the man realized the boy didn't understand a single thing he was saying. The blonde hair and green eyes were also distracting. Since they were already used to foreigners, at least a bit, they knew that the boy wasn't 'a devil' or anything. And the boy looked so pitiful, and thus the guard took the boy by a bit of force and sent him to a nearby herbal doctor. Of course, the boy refused and fought with his whole life. The guard simply knocked him off and carried the fainted boy to the small shop over the bridge.

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><p>"A fei! Can you please close the shop? And prepare your stuff; we are going to the mountain for the winter." The old herbalist called out to his young helper, while trying his best to wake up from his previous sitting position. His hip was killing him. He is really turning old.<p>

"Yes master~!" The boy shouted back, and begun to effectively closing the store. The old man smiled. He had taken the lost boy three years prior and since then the boy has become his apprentice. Not so much as learning the herbs, since the boy still needs to learn about their language. The boy—whom he named A fei—was a smart and diligent boy. He loves the boy like he would do a grandchild.

"A fei, have you turned off the stove? The medicine can only be cooked for three yours, and not a minute more."

"Yes, I have! And also I put it inside the pot already." The boy answered, but still busy locking the door with bamboo shoot block. "Master! You go eat first! I have cooked rice at the back!"

"No, we'll eat together." The man chuckled and took his cane, walking into the house. It was a busy day since it is the last day before winter officially come and he would be closed for the whole 3 months. It was a habit to go to the mountain for the winter, since despite the cold, most of the herbs grew the best under the snow and occasional sun. Weird it may be, it is the best season to gather new supply of herbs and medicine.

"Master, you want me to massage you?" The boy asked, in a slightly inaccurate tone. The old man smiled, correcting the boy's tone. It was the hardest thing for the boy in learning the language—the tone. Each word has different tone, and he just couldn't comprehend which is which. But he was trying his best, and at the moment, people around him could at least understand what he was trying to say, despite the occasional out of tune-tone.

They ate in silence, the boy munching as silent as he could, while watching the old man—the herbalist—who apparently famous and capable of curing most of the disease around. There are a lot of other doctors and herbalists around too, yet his master was the oldest and the most experienced, also the most kind. He had taken the boy from the guard, and treating him as if he was his apprentice. He was very grateful for that, although initially he wasn't very sure how to react.

His name was Arthur Kirkland, but since his master couldn't pronounce Arthur, he became 'A fei'. He was fine with that, and that's how he became 'A fei'. The neighbourhood knew him as a weird looking boy, slightly over active but very helpful. They accepted him initially due to the herbalist's reputation, but it grew into affection and fondness since the boy is simply loveable. Arthur also has become the official right hand of the leader of the children gang in town, despite his obvious non-Asian features. His assertiveness and bold nature made him quite popular amongst the boys while his cat-like-grin made girls blushed.

"A fei, how is the preparation for tomorrow?" the old man asked, smiling tenderly.

Arthur smirked. "It's good, master! I managed to get so many fish with cheap price today! We can smoke it when we reach the winter cave-hut in the mountain, then we have enough for the whole three months, maybe more! Though I really want to get some sweets…"

"You can get some if you want. We can buy a lot and keep it throughout the winter for you." The old man offered.

"It's fine." Arthur chewed his stewed meat. "We are not that rich, master."

"Well, I think I can manage some sweets…"

"Master, you look tired, better sleep fast." Arthur offered, pointedly ignoring the man's offer. The man sighed. A fei simply dislike the chance to be spoiled. The boy has a really strong sense of self-awareness. For him, being rescued from the road and given a house to live in was enough to gallant deep appreciation of the old man. Simple things like sweets or new clothes were too much for him.

Arthur was an unfortunate orphan back in his home country, one of the orphaned children from the civil war and evil overlords. His parents were killed because they were thought to practice 'witch craft' and Arthur ran away before the whole village burnt his parents own with their hut. He ran and was captured by thieves, sold to pirates as slave, and brought to the land of silk three years ago. Everything felt like heaven after all those.

"Fine, fine. But you need to sleep with me today."

"I don't want. You smell like medicine." Arthur declined harshly. But both know it wasn't the real reason. Arthur always slept lightly beside his master so that he could apply medicine to the old man's body. Recently, the old man often fell down and suffered from chronic arthritis pain especially around the hip. Arthur usually tried to soothe the man every time the pain come at night by applying salve or warmed clothes.

"Hey, hey." The old man chuckled, but it turned to a cough. Arthur looked worried and went over to the old man, but the man smiled.

"I am fine, my boy. You worry too much."

"…I hope so." The boy whispered.

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><p>Winter in the mountain was harsh; but their hut was half cave and it was warmer especially with the fire on. Arthur looked at the old man, who was busy reading yet another writings of many medicine news, and throw another block of wood.<p>

He was afraid, yes. If the old man dies, who would take care of him? He was only 12 that year, and no matter what he did, he still be a child with no family. Whose going to take care of him, after that?

And he didn't want to lose yet another parent.

He watched as the fire burnt. The cave smelled of herbs and smoked fish. He would go to the forest tomorrow to gather food and possibly honey—one of his favourite food. He hated the bees, but the sweetness of wild honey is the best. It deserved the stung and some blisters from the bees.

"A fei…"

"Yes, master?"

"Do you want to read this book? Maybe you will find it interesting?"

Arthur shrugged. He knew his master's wish for him to become a scholar. But frankly he wasn't the studious type. He is more an action man. He loves jumping and running though the forest rather than staying inside the hut to study all the time. He found reading hard, too. Not only the spoken language is hard enough, the writing simply sucks. The whole alphabet—millions of them, make him sick. Even back home, with his limited alphabet, he still had some difficulties understanding the scripture.

So instead he sat beside his master and pretended to read while his master reciting the poems and such.

It was soothing, truly.

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><p>He loves running. He knew he could run faster than any other child in the harbour. He could overrun the rabbit, and currently he was chasing one. Through the forest, through the mist, through the bushes.<p>

It was exhilarating. His heart was beating fast. He loves running!

He didn't realize he went deeper into the forest, into the forbidden part of it. His master had warned him once that half of the mountain is owned by the imperial family. But Arthur, being Arthur, didn't care or simply forget. And there was no guard anyway; no border to sign that he was in their land, so whatever, right?

The rabbit jumped into the bushes in front of him. Arthur smirked. The rabbit must be tired. It had started to hide. And he would easily get it, so he jumped…

And he was freefalling.

He was shocked. He wanted to scream, but he couldn't. He was flying down. He didn't know that the further down the bush, it was a waterfall. He was falling fast, head first to the water.

"MASTEEEEERRRRRR!" he was shouting on top of his lungs, screaming for his master, despite knowing that it was futile. He covered his head with his arms and a second after was braced by the pain when he smashed into the water.

His lungs were filled with water. He gargled, but his body slowed down and slowly floated up. It was really uncomfortable sensation of couldn't breathe with water inside his larynx, but he managed to cough heavily and floated up. Then his right leg started to spasm—it cramped.

Fuck!

He sunk back into the water. He couldn't breathe…

Master…

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><p>Wang Yao ordered his attendants to wait around the lake. The waterfall is still so pretty and pure, something that hasn't changed from the first time he visited the winter palace inside the sacred mountains when he was 5 years old.<p>

He is now 20, and still loves the natural beauty of the mountain.

As he opened his robes, he sighed. There were so many layers—and all of them are so heavily embroidered with phoenixes. It came with his background, after all. He is the current emperor's smallest brother, smallest out of three brothers and two sisters; and the weakest one in term of politic power yet he possessed more influence than his older sisters. His mother was the last emperor's last concubine; also the most beautiful one. Her beauty and talent passed onto Yao, and now Yao has more male suitor than female. His Emperor Brother loves Yao so dear much because Yao is his smallest baby brother, also the best diviner like his mother.

The whole mountain usually reserved for Yao in the winter. While the other imperial family loves to come in summer or spring, Yao loves to come there in the winter. For him, the white and cold landscape of Winter Mountain was the prettiest. Not to mention the pureness of air around the mountain and the mist in winter. And swimming in the waterfall-lake was one of his favourite.

The water was freezing cold; Yao shuddered. It woke him up from his serene and made him feeling alive again. He immersed himself into the water, and soon after that, it wasn't freezing cold, at least.

His thin silk simple undergarment pressed onto his body as he swam over the water. Small fishes passed underneath him, through the rocks and water plants. The clear water was so clear he couldn't help but giggle with giddiness. He really loves that place. The only one he had shared his waterfall with was his oldest brother—the Emperor.

And then suddenly his peace was torn by ripples of water. He looked up, to find a boy gasping for air, and then submerged into the water again. It was a good distance from where he was, yet Yao was a good swimmer and he could reach there in no time.

So, he started to swim towards the sinking body.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two.

I forget to mention, review please~ I just love them, and it fuels me to write more~! SO review~~! (better yet, tell me you like it!)

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><p>His attendances were panicking around him, urging him to pass the body of the unconscious boy. Yet Yao refused to give in, instead cradling the boy inside his arms. The boy was on the skinny side, almost a bit malnourished, so it was still in Yao's strength range.<p>

He didn't realised how the wet cloth sticking on his skin, hugging his slim figures. Some of the male attendances forced themselves to look the other way, while the ladies tried their best to cover Yao with some of the robes.

"It is very cold, your highness, please take care.."

Yao dismissed them and walked towards his small carriage. He then turned to his attendances and asked with a smile.

"Can we go to the palace, now?"

The attendances hurriedly answered and came into their positions. The cavalcade started to move, slower than Yao's desired pace. It was too much, sometimes, how the traditions and customs slowed everything down. Yao sighed. He wished his brother can change such a ridiculous custom of stopping in between steps. Isn't it faster to get people walked like usual?

He peered down onto the boy in front of him. His carriage was smaller than the usual, but it was still big enough to lay the boy in front of him. The boy should be honoured that Yao was willing to fold his legs to give him a room inside his carriage. He peered closer, forgetting any dignity he should posses as a member of direct imperial family, and watched as the boy's chest slowly up and down. At least the boy was still breathing and alive.

The boy has the most curious golden coloured hair. Yao knew that most of his servants may have brownish coloured, due to the discoloration from being exposed too much under the direct sun. But their hair were brownish, and coppery at most, not that golden. The only people Yao had seen with this colour hair were some foreigners he once saw talking and bring gift to his Emperor Brother. Not to mention, those bushy eyebrows… Yao chuckled to himself. He has never seen any eyebrows that bushy! Amazing, that itself is worthy of being kept inside his collection! He had quite a large amount of collection, with the theme 'everything I like and I think exotic'. The private collection was not really as extensive as his sisters' jewellery collections, but it itself is worthy of praise. He collected rocks, plants, flowers, small animals, robes, and I Ching coins. His Emperor Brother once said that he didn't understand why Yao collected those random stuffs, but Yao doesn't care. He likes what he likes.

So, following his childish desire, he started to knead over the bushy eyebrows slowly. Very thick and nice. Yao caught himself giggling, and happy that he was safe inside a private carriage. His Emperor Brother wouldn't let him forget his dignity as the smallest royal prince and imperial diviner. He was supposed to be the cool beauty.

He continued playing with the small body in front of him, smile never disappeared from his lovely lips.

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><p>When he was small, Yao was always kept hidden inside the inner main Heaven palace. He was the last of the child descendent from the previous Emperor; so in order to not make any more ruckuses about inheritance, his mother used to cloth him in female clothing. He was sheltered like any other princesses, despite people knowing his real gender. By doing it, his mother has established the fact that Yao defied right and will not pursue the throne—instead; his mother trained him into divination, astrology and numerology techniques. His mother planned to endow the position of imperial diviner to his son.<p>

It saved Yao's life, obviously. There were already three people for the throne, and they were obviously more suitable than Yao. Over the years, his mother realised that her decision making Yao a diviner was a success and a failure. A success, because now nobody cared about killing Yao. A failure, because dressing up the boy as girl has made the boy became more feminine and more beautiful than the princesses and ladies in the court, creating another set of jealousy problems. Luckily, since he was the next Imperial diviner, he was deemed to not lose his virginity (even though he is a man) before the ceremony of maturity. It falls on his 21st birthday, which was 5 months away.

Sadly, his mother fell ill and deceased when Yao reached his 17th birthday. Since then, he became the golden diviner flower of the Inner Palace, guarded by the Holy Emperor himself. Yao basked in his Emperor Brother's excessive love, sheltered from everything. Yao was ordered to live inside the main Palace, just beside the Emperor's longue. He was also told to share meals every other day with the Emperor, in addition of enjoying the same bath with the Emperor. They often took the bath at the same time. Their closeness had induced some level of jealousy from the Empress and concubines, but no one dared to voice it out. His clothes were all made by the Emperor's personal tailor, and thus, shared similar features. The Emperor even chose Yao's personal attendance by himself.

People often gossiped about the overprotective—almost unhealthy relationship between the two, but Yao remained ignorant. They didn't know how his Emperor Brother really loves him and depended on his divination talent. Yao was his personal diviner and smallest loveliest little brother. Yao's divination is always accurate, and he could tell the future or past of everyone and everything, except himself. But it usually left him in very exhausted state, so he could only do it every fortnight at most.

And the Winter Palace is one of the few selected place where Yao could actually visit, out from the usual Inner Heaven Palace. His brother often came with him, but that time he was quite busy assuring the court about the merit of placing a new law about International relationship (which, to the court's horror and Yao's amusement, includes marriage). If it was legalised, then marriage with foreigner brought forward another right: the half citizenship of the Yan Kingdom. It sounded very crude for all the xenophobic, promoting to open the door to other foreign people from foreign country, but they don't realise that by opening the door, it actually strengthened the relationship between Yan Kingdom and other countries. By having half citizenship status, the said foreigner needs to pay tax to Yan Kingdom, abide by its rules, and also promotes the goodness of Yan Kingdom to their original countries. Not to mention the technology and knowledge they would share, which is easier to share amongst family compared to foreigners against foreigners.

It was risky, though. Yao knew it, and he advised his brother about it. His brother then consulted Yao's divination power, and it showed that the said law will bring prosperity to the kingdom for the next ten years. So his Emperor Brother happily supported the idea. But the Emperor knows better and make it not easy to become one acknowledge by the law. There are certain rules that need to be fulfilled before a partner can bestow his/her mates the rights to Yan Kingdom citizenship.

And so, Yao enjoyed his days in the Winter Palace alone.

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><p>"Where…" Arthur opened his eyes, everything was blurry and unclear. He shifted and felt like something was not right, especially since his left leg felt heavy and uncomfortable, not to mention painful. "…am… AAAA!"<p>

The face above him looked too close to his face for his likings. The eyes above him were staring unabashedly at him. Arthur caught his calm and watched back. The eyes were golden. Brown with bright, golden speckles irises. Huge pupil. Long lashes. Pretty.

"Your eyes are green, aru!"

"What?" Arthur shook his head, try to wake himself up. His body was very heavy, and his throat felt dry and in pain. Almost immediately, pain shot from his ankle. He winced to see that his ankle was covered in bandages and smelled like herbs he knew too well. "…I broke my ankle, didn't I?"

Yao smiled. The boy was good. He diagnosed himself just by seeing and probably the smell of the herbs the imperial doctor used. Interesting.

"Please sleep back, aru. Have a rest. Are you hungry?"

"…Who are you?" Arthur asked in suspicion, looking around him. What he saw betrayed him. His face formed a frown. He knew he was in a foreign, if not luxurious room, filled with vases and ceramics and nice woody chairs and tables and silk bed with so many expensive looking ornaments. "… Where am I?"

"You are safe here, aru. This is the guest room inside… inside my family mansion." Yao smiled warmly, knowing that he looked sincere. He had practice his innocent looks since he was small. It came with the territory, especially when his mother was a very good mind reader. Yao was also lying a bit, since he wasn't supposed to bring plebeian into the palace. So he pretends that it was just a normal mansion.

"…You must be bloody rich." Arthur muttered.

Yao was surprised. It was his very first time a person cursing and uses a rude language in front of him. "What did you say, aru?"

"Look at this room. If this is the guest room, what kind of room do _you_ have?" Arthur was near hysterics. "I cannot pay you back! Let me go!"

"Calm down, please?" Yao grabbed Arthur's wrists they were thin, but Arthur has the strength matching Yao's. Yao pouted, realising how weak he was. "How old are you, aru?"

"I am twelve! Bloody Twelve! I don't want to be sold to slave traders! I thank you but let me go!"

"You speak our language, aru." Yao realise in amusement, and ignored the fact that the boy was fighting to run, but couldn't since both his feet were tied to the bed, in order to straightened the ankles. "…Aren't you foreign, aru?"

"Master!" Arthur yelled. "Master!"

The door to the room was opened harshly. Two guards went in, and kneeled in front of the entrance. "Your highne-!"

"Sshh!" Yao hushed them quickly. He didn't want to let the boy know who Yao was. "I am fine. Just stay outside."

"You have _bloody_ bodyguards!" Arthur panicked. "OMG, you are the Boss of the slave trader! HELP!"

"Calm down." Yao suddenly stood up and stared back at the boy. The boy was surprised, since the aura around Yao changed. The cheerful suspicious beautiful lady as gone; and this cold, cool beauty stood there. "Don't be impolite. You may be a child but ignorance can only be tolerated until a certain boundary. You are pushing it too far."

The boy shuddered.

"Good. I give you my word that I won't sell or harm you in any way. Now, grant me your name, boy."

"…Arthur. Arthur Kirkland."

The lady looked lost a bit, just like every other people trying to spell his name in their first time. So Arthur sighed. "Call me A fei, please."

The lady suddenly smiled. "Arthur. It is a very pretty name. Unique, just like how your appearance."

_Wow. The lady really got class. She could call my name correctly._ Arthur thought.

"..Thank you." Arthur felt himself blushed. "You… You are a very beautiful lady too."

The lady looked taken aback. And then she started to laugh. She covered her face with her sleeve, but she was blushing furiously.

"I am a man, aru!"

The tone changed, and the childish, suspicious cheerful lady came back. The lady…no, the man was practically on the floor, rolling.

"You thought I am…! Augh, aru, it is soooo funny! I never know I still have it…!"

Arthur felt like he was an idiot.

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><p>Review?<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

I am looking for Fletch series. anybody can help me find an online copy?

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><p><em>Arthur found out he had some curiosity and interest on herbals. Especially since the person who took he in, aka the master, works as a herbalist and a traditional doctor. His daily chore includes sorting some herbals, collecting plants from forest and the mountains, crushing them on the stone bowl, grind the pellets and seeds into fine powder. The smell sometimes unbearable, other times very enticing.<em>

_He also cooks, though his master prefers him not to. His failure in the kitchen was so immense that his cooking can only be eaten by desperate hungry men stranded in a dry desert in Timbuktu. Despite his shortcomings in the kitchen, the master needs to acknowledge the talent of 'A fei' in making tea. The tea Arthur infused was always good tasting and unique, if not refreshing. Little did he know that Arthur did his own experiment in the back of the kitchen, using all the leftover safe herbals from the main medicine supplies. He used everything, and only by trial and error found out that peppermint makes tea more refreshing while rosemary induced a very exotic smell. Sugar can make almost all infusion bearable, and salt does the exact opposite. He refrained himself from using soy or vinegar, because he knew his limit. However, including basil into a tea infusion only caused foul mixture of tea and medicine. _

_True, he hates study. But Arthur loves to watch and observe how his master applied the medicine—it was all very fascinating to the young boy. There are various different kinds of medicine available, raging from blood replenishing potion to fertility concoction. To have at least one mixture of herbs remedy for every health problem imaginable is very exciting for Arthur. And by observing, he unconsciously learnt. His nose started to recognise the different unique smells of each herbs. His mind registered the whole different concoction, mixture and potions. Of all others, he especially paid attention on the process of diagnosis and medicine assignment.. Everything was truly fascinating, like magic. _

_Just like magic. _

_His parents were killed because they were thought to practice magic. And now he was learning something in resemble of magic. It was weird how something being scorned at in the West becomes remedy in the East. Oh, the irony._

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><p>Arthur bit his lips, refusing anything to enter his upper orifice. He was still tied to the bed. In front of him, Yao grimaced, spoon in hand. The concave part of the spoon contained nasty liquid which Arthur was dead set against.<p>

"Come on, aru. if you don't drink this, you'll never get better."

Arthur shook his head, refusing to answer using his mouth, because he was trying his best to guard from having foul medicine down his throat. Meanwhile, Arthur also suspected Yao was enjoying the whole situation too much.

"Come on, Arthur. Open up, aru."

The boy's head shook. And to Yao's amusement, his eyebrows moved too.

"A fei, open up."

Arthur shook his head. He couldn't use his hands, since it were tied up to the bed post. His feets were still unused able, bound to the other side of bedpost. Arthur suspected the worst, maybe Yao was a child trader indeed. He seemingly having fun from what others would call 'bondage'.

Suddenly, Yao attacked. He pinched Arthur's nose bridge quite hard. In reflex, Arthur opened his mouth and almost simultaneously, Arthur's tongue registered the bitterness of the medicine. Not to mention the foul smell.

"Argh!" Arthur wanted to vomit, but his jaw was clasped close by Yao. So he swallowed and felt his whole body hair stood up from the sensation.

"One down, aru!" Yao's eyes glitter in excitement and exclaimed loudly in victory. "A bowl more to go!"

Arthur groaned loudly and clasped his lips back, this time higher and noting that he would fight his reflex the next time Yao decided to pinch his nose bridge no matter how hard it is.

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><p>The bodyguards sighed. They knew their master was having fun. Behind the locked doors, their master was the most childish of man. in front of the doors, especially in front of the court, however, Yao acted all high and mighty like what his hereditary place should be.<p>

The boy's groan penetrated trough the thin paper side of the wooden door. The guards sighed while the servants smiled. It was very funny to hear how their master treated the boy like a pet. It is not a problem for the imperial family member to take another human being as a pet, However, a pet with blonde hair and green eyes would be considered as a foul curse and be banned by the mostly strict traditionalists court members.

Most of the day, Yao spent his time 'nursing' Arthur to health. When Yao returned to his chamber or did his daily chores of offerings ceremony, Arthur's room was bombarded with huge amount of visitors—the servants and the guards. They came mainly because of pure curiosity and the intention to make sure that Arthur is a harmless entertainment for their beloved Imperial Diviner. Arthur, with his boyish charm, captured their hearts easily and they spent more and more time in-until the room became an unofficial 'tea room' for the servants when their master Yao wasn't there.

The servants started to gossip with him, giving him the cheap sweets and treats while some braver one played with his hair. Arthur felt like he was a bloody puppy in the middle of bored people from the Palace. He didn't complain much, though, since he was tied to the bed and the sweets were good enough to keep him company. So all in all, everything was good. Except one.

Arthur was worried about his old master. Would the herbalist be fine alone? Arthur has been kept inside the room for at least weeks, and he had no way to tell his master that he was fine. Arthur wanted to return and make sure his master was still breathing and healthy; but in his current condition, he couldn't even move from the bed. He asked some of the guards to help him find his master, and they agreed to. However, since their main job is to guard the Palace and Yao, they couldn't simply go to search the mountain. They mainly search one of two hours in their spare time. Arthur was very grateful for the help, but so far, it was futile. When they did found the cave Arthur described, they returned to bring a bad news of finding the cave had been emptied at least for a week.

A new worry found itself crept into Arthur's mind. Did his master return to the city without him? Did his master abandon him? Or is he somewhere inside the mountain, searching?

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><p>On the other side of the mountain, the old man was frantically looking for his apprentice. He knew he shouldn't let the boy roamed alone by himself. The mountain, though look tame most of the time, actually hid lots of possible harmful things. The old man forced himself to take a breath, ignoring how his old feet refused to move another step. He has been walking non-stop through the uneven land, the vile bushes and thick fog; and he was blindly following the faintest of footsteps he believed was Arthur's.<p>

The footsteps were getting fainter and fainter by the passing time; and soon it might be lost. the old man was quite scared of the prospect and blamed it on his old, weak body. He wanted nothing else but to sit down and catch a single breath, but his apprentice's safety was beyond that. The boy must be safe before he could take any rest. So he continued forcing the old body, following the trail of faint human child footsteps, deeper into the forest.

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><p>Review, people? By the way, do you have any recommendation for Harry Potter fanfiction? Anything that is good is fine by me.<p>

Ciao!


	4. Chapter 4

Hi, this is chapter 4. I am so happy for your review, thank you very much! By the way, I am really sorry for the slow update, and I am juggling between this and Between You and Me and Second Honeymoon. Damn, so much to do. I would like to thank Blind_Alchemist, Kaya Sushi, China Moon, Clockeater 890, PandaTeaLovers, Jiezizi, 134love134, and all of you my faithful readers. For new ones, welcome on the ride! If you dont know, I never make sense, but I will always stick to the title. And oh, Please, tell me what do you think about my stories. I want a thrid eyes opinion. This is because I personally think I have repeated too many cliche (Yao's bad past, poor people, somebody died, or many other cliche) and I think my writing style has changed to worst. furthermore, I want to try my luck in real novel writing, so maybe you can help me with improvement?

Your help will be greatly appreciated, thank also, please go and read Blind_Alchemist's newest Story Four Gates. it is amazing, I tell you.

*I am not sure about the honorary suffix. So I am putting it in the English version. I don't think FF allows Chinese words anymore.

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><p>Three weeks had passed.<p>

Arthur became better and better, his feet less swollen and stiff; and currently he was being assessed by the healer. The man wasn't as old as his master; but it appeared that he was a decent, if not, excellent healer doctor. Arthur noted that his apparatus were the newest model and very expensive, unlike his master's.

"I can see that the tendon is fine now." The healer smiled. "We just need to wait until it naturally aligned themselves back to the insertion; your bone is nicely healed. The swollen part is now returned normal. Good, A fei. You will be out running by a week and a half, in this rate. You can walk now, but don't exert yourself."

"…But I have been here for three weeks already." Arthur frowned. "Healer sir*, can I ask you something?"

"Yes, what is it, A fei?"

"Who is… Who is Master Yao, sir?"

"Why do you ask that, my child?" The healer smiled. He has been treating the boy for the past weeks. Arthur seldom asked stuff. The boy acted like he had surrendered to his current predicament, and it was quite endearing that the boy felt safe enough to ask anything.

"Because… everybody seemed to listen to him; I thought he was the ring leader of the child slavery, but he is not. He is obviously loaded, and what could he want from me? I am nothing but a poor orphan."

"Well, you see, I am forbidden from telling you anything about his highness."

Arthur winced. "There. You called him 'His Highness'. It's something I never heard people around me calling before, is that somekind of honorary title to… court member? Is he a very important person?"

The healer looked troubled. He was personally told by Yao that he was, in under no circumstances, to tell the boy who his 'saviour' was. It might just Yao's sudden egoistical whim, but the healer knew it was bigger than that—Yao was trying to have someone who will treat him as a human, and not The Emperor's brother. And he saw Yao always very happy and cheeky around Arthur. Looking at such childish behaviour made the healer felt very protective. Yao was just… just very loveable human being, as very just… just very loveable human being, outside his status and wonderful appearance.

"Well, he is… let's say… a kind of low-rank official." The healer lied through his teeth. "He ruled this area, so we called him His Highness."

"Oh, okay." Arthur bit his lips. That made sense, but he had another question. "One more question, can I?"

The healer nodded.

"…Why is he a man? I don't mean to be rude, but his body and face… well, I think he would do really well and marry a high rank official. Or maybe even The King himself. Is that normal? Is all the high ranking men look like that?"

The healer couldn't stop himself from smiling. _Yes, the appearance. That beauty. Of course_. Even this small boy could feel no different from adults like him.

"Was that a curse? Or was he born like that? What did he eat, actually?" Arthur whispered the last bit. "…Is he a… a fairy?"

"Well," The healer smiled even wider. It's just funny how the boy was gushing all his babbles like that, about Yao. It happens to many. "He is human. But he has this Divine Gift for fortune telling. And no, not everyone likes that. Only His Highness Yao is pretty like that."

"I am coming in, aru!" On that same moment, the door was opened and Yao rushed in, like a child, jumping around yet there wasn't much sound from his graceful legs. He looked like he just finishing his morning ritual, hair undone and free-falling on his back, his face wet from the water wash and he was wearing a simple, white thin robe. "How are … Oh. I see that you are inside."

Yao became the haughty Young Prince again once he was aware of the other guest in the room. Arthur and the healer were caught unguarded, it took them three seconds before realising that Yao was the one rudely entering and shouting into the room.

"Good morning, Your Highness." The healer rose to kowtowed, but Yao waved his hand, signalling it was fine. Yao's porcelain cheek were flushed a bit, showing embarrassment from being caught acting like a child. Instead, he moved gracefully and slowly, like how Imperial Family should move, towards the bed.

"How is he?"

"A fei is coming very well, Your Highness. He will be running in no time, probably next week."

"Good," Yao nodded and took a seat. The healer still had his head on the floor. "You may leave."

"Yes, Your Highness. Thank you, Your Highness."

"One thing," Yao called the healer. "Does he still need to drink his medicine?"

The healer nodded, but keeping his eyes on the floor. "Yes, Your Majesty. He still needs to drink it, maybe twice a day instead of thrice now. I will personally prepare it and it will be ready before noon."

"…Thank you."Yao smiled to himself, and Arthur groaned.

"No, I don't want it anymore." Arthur mumbled to himself, knowing that even though he said it aloud, nothings gonna change. Forcing Arthur to drink the Goddamn awful concoction was one of Yao's purpose in life, it seemed.

The healer closed the door behind him, and Yao turned to Arthur, face completely changed. His stern face turned into a childish, very pretty smile.

"So." Yao smirked. "What do you want to do today?"

"I want to go to the garden. I am dead bored sitting on this bed for weeks." Arthur pouted. "Master Yao, why do you wear that simple robe every morning? Is that your pyjamas?"

"This?" Yao looked down to his body. The white thin cotton robe was clinging to his slim body. It was nothing compared to his daily gear, but this was the most comfortable robe and the one required for the purifying rituals every morning. "This is my work robe, aru."

"Work? What do you do? I don't see you do anything the whole day. You played a lot."

"Well, my job is very specific, I only do it when I want to… well, usually at night when the moon is out, aru."Yao's head bobbed to left and right, cheerfully answering the boy, while keeping his real occupation a secret.

"…really?" One of the boy's eyebrows raise . The eyebrows are the best feature of Arthur, Yao decided. "Are you a thief?"

Yao raise his own eyebrows this time. "Of course not, aru!"

"Are you… a writer*?"

"No, aru!"

Arthur looked deep in thought. "…Are you, by any chance… a professional whore?"

Yao was frozen. His expression turned into anger. "How dare you!"

"I am sorry!" Arthur shouted back and protected his head with his arms. "I am sorry for saying that! I am sorry; please don't hit me, master!"

The anger triggered something in his mind; the emotion called _fear_; the emotion that ruled his head for a several good years. He saw his parents killed by the church; burned alive like what they did for whomever they deemed as 'witches and wizards'. He was kidnapped as a slave, forced to be a slave, worked as a slave and life as one until he finally couldn't take it anymore and ran away. Even though he was finally settled nicely under the Herbalist's wings, Arthur was still forced to face the fear of one day he would return into being a slave. Caught by the pirates again. Or worst, burned alive by the church just like his parents. Because usually 'magic' runs through family and blood.

His reflex was forced from his experience as a slave; if he didn't do something right, he was hit. If he didn't work hard enough, he was hit. If he was hungry, he was hit before fed. If he dared to steal bread or a minute to rest, he was hit. If he said something wrong, he was hit. Basically, everything that he did, he was hit for it.

So he was waiting for the blow. Arthur bit his lips. He was slacking, he knew. After living for three years in the foreign land, he became relaxed and stupidly expected people to be kind. Well, not very kind, but at least nobody will treat him as a slave. And Yao has been so good the last few weeks that Arthur couldn't help but bring his mental shield down.

The blow didn't come. Arthur opened his eyes, to realise he was actually closing his eyes really tight behind his arms.

"You will not address me like that anymore, you hear me?"Yao's stern words came. "The next time you act as disrespectful as this, I will have you beheaded!"

Arthur nodded. Well, he had another chance. But beheaded, really? Maybe he would end just like his parents did.

"I am … I am truly sorry, Master Yao."

"I know." The man's voice became the usual happy-go-lucky tone. "But you need to be reminded of your place, aru. Or else."

"I am sorry. I have seen my error and I will not make the same mistake again."

Yao nodded. Arthur then felt a pair of hands pulling down his own defensive arms. Arthur looked up, to see Yao's pensive expression.

"Was it bad, aru?"

Arthur looked lost, so Yao explained.

"You told me about being a slave and running away before, aru. Was it bad, aru? Did they hit you?"

Arthur bit his lower lip and nodded. Yao looked contemplative and raise from the seat he was sitting on.

"Come, aru. Let us enjoy the garden. You need a change of scenery."

"Yes, Master." Arthur nodded and raise from the bed, trying to balance himself with his legs. It was still painful, but he could walk normally. He felt Yao's presence beside him, and amazingly, a hand grabbed his upper arm, as if trying to support him. useless, of course, and awkward. Arthur realized that maybe Yao never done it before, supporting another person. But whatever the reason he had, Arthur felt warmth spread through his chest.

Yes, as childish and mysterious Yao was, the man was truly a kind fairy.

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><p>Arthur enjoyed the garden as much as any other poor orphan would.<p>

"You know, the fishes inside this lake are bigger than what I have seen in the market. Do you think I can catch one and sell it in town? Or maybe we can open a fish farm or something?"

Yao looked at the boy in disbelief, but kept his thought to himself. They were enjoying the largest garden the Summer Palace has; and even Yao felt it was very beautiful. He was the one who ordered it to be built after all. His Emperor Brother loves the particular space so much. And Yao has changed into his day robe, which decorated with gold threads and jewels. His red silk robes were sewn in the pattern of phoenixes and flowers. His hair was done in simple bun with simple jade pins struck around it. He refused to use his crown, as it was just too heavy for a day with nobody like Arthur.

"And This! the whole garden! How can it… we are in the middle of the mountain! And this garden is just… too flat."

"Are they not beautiful, aru?"

"They are utterly beautiful, but how do you make it? We are in the middle of the mountain and it is so… Look! A peacock! That would taste very good, wouldn't it?"

"You want to eat roast peacock, aru?"

After a moment of thought, Arthur shook his head. "…No. They are too beautiful to be eaten. I prefer chicken, really."

"Look at that, aru."

Arthur looked to whereYaowas pointing and he saw, to his present day, the tallest beast he ever seen. It looks like a horse, with legs and neck longer than houses. It has two pointy ears and looked a bit like dragon, with hairs at the back of its neck. It looks quite deadly, and it was eyeing both of them with some kind of intensity.

"What is THAT!" The boy exclaimed.

Yao chuckled. "It'sKirin**, aru. We got it from the tribe of the West. They said it was the only one in the world."

(**Kirinwas believed as originally from Giraffe. Remember the comic strip in book 3 whereYaobrought home a Giraffe because it is kawaii aru? But to justify myself, I always thought of this majestic being as a beast, not a gentle giraffe. And all the stories around Kirin always saidKirinlives in the woods and can fly. How can a giraffe, native to hot African climate, survive in the mountain and fly like a bird?)

"Oh. Oh. Oooookay…" Arthur couldn't control his speech. The animal was just… majestic. Mystical.

"You like him, aru?"

"…I don't know. He looks scary."

"Well, he is quite fierce. We can walk nearer and you can see him there."

"Can I touch him?"

"…Maybe he'll let you, aru." Yao smiled. "Do you want to try?"

Arthur perked up andYaosmiled to him, raise from their place in the pavilion and walked towards the animal. Their attendances followed behind, and everybody was enjoying the time together.

Yao looked down to the child beside him. He felt a bit soothed from his unreasonable guilt when he was about to strike the boy. The boy raised his arms for protection as a reflex, as if he was used to getting punished. Yao knew the boy deserved the hit because he disrespect Yao, but when he saw how Arthur shook on the bed, arms raised to protect himself, it felt like he was a monster if he strike the boy. Furthermore, it was clear that Arthur was used to use his body to mitigate the punishment, not prevented it from happening.

The boy looked happy now, and so Yao was kind of relieved. Maybe he could protect the boy. The boy was falling and drowning the first time they met. Listening to the boy retelling his past was something very bizarre to Yao. He never even dreamt about such an adventure, and truthfully Yao has the imagination and the power to see future. He knew that no matter how peculiar it that in every country, of course there would be kasta and some people are just luckier or richer than other. Poor people are everywhere, and they have different standard of expecting of some usual—eat—one—meal—a—day story. But when he finally could make the boy told him, he was utterly amazed, in a negative way. Moreover, Yao saw that Arthur wasn't comfortable into retelling the details and some parts of the story.

The boy could be just making up stuff; but Yao somehow believed in the boy. And another thing that made Yao felt curious was the fact that he couldn't see what Arthur's future is. It only ever happened when Yao was trying to 'see' his own future. So in another word, their future might be linked to each other's. He kept it a secret of course, because his Emperor Brother hates to see him exhausted for no reason. And his Emperor Brother was supposed to come sometime soon.

He sighed and watched as the boy bowed before the Kirin. The Kirin looked like measuring him for a moment before bowing back, letting the boy pet him. A few gasps were heard from his why. The Kirin was so fierce that usually it won't let people touch him, and anyone who is stupid enough to get close will get kicked and killed. The only few whom Kirin would let them touch were the Emperor, Yao and a few of the Imperial Courtmembers. It seemed that the Kirin could sense the 'kindness' and 'greatness' of people and let only those worthy to pet him.

And watching how a small poor orphan boy petting the beast like some kind of pet dog was quite… mesmerizing.

When Arthur finally came back from petting the beast, he looked him, asking why.

"The Kirin… kind of talked to me, Master Yao."

"Oh?" Yao was intrigued. "Explain, aru."

"He said that if I don't come and find my Old Master, he would be in a great danger…"

"Is the old master the herbalist you said adopted you?"

"Yes, Master Yao. Can I… Can I go? I can at least reach the cave before mid night, if I run."

"You shall not, aru. Your feet are still recuperating."

"But!" The boy looked agonized. Yao sighed.

"I can have the guards to search, aru."

The boy shook his head. "You don't know, Master Yao. I have asked some of them, and they kindly helped me with it, but they said they couldn't find my master, and only a few days ago they found the cave! They also said that it has no sign of human in the cave for more than two weeks! I cannot ask them again! I need to find my master myself! I know the mountain better than them, I think."

"That is so reckless, aru." Yao shook his head. But he was curious of why the guards seemed to follow Arthur's words as they would follow his. "Let's get back inside."

"No!" Arthur steadfastly stood on the ground. "I need to do this! He is my master! He is… he is my last family! I need to find him soon! And Kirin said that Master is in danger! I have left him for more than three weeks without even telling him where I am and how I am doing. He must be searching for me! I don't believe Master would leave alone to go back to the town! I need to find him!"

Yao watched as the child almost cried, but biting his lips so that tears wouldn't drop. Yao sighed.

"… Fine. I'll help you, aru. I don't want you to blindly enter the forest mountain like that. Follow me."

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><p>Arthur didn't understand why he was asked to wash himself. Some of the maids came and took him for a bath, for a long, cold bath. He was scrubbed from head to toe, Arthur even needs to scrub the inside of his mouth. He was asked to drink two jugs of plain water, and encouraged to pee. He was then wrapped in the plain white cotton cloth just like what Yao always wear in the morning rituals, although it nicely fitted his body size.<p>

He was asked to walk deeper into the palace, and as he walked along the corridor with one of the oldest servant, Arthur could feel the air getting heavier. It was filled with incense scent and burnt spice. The room getting dimmer and dimmer. His feet was kinda hurting a bit, but he forced himself to walk. The servant asked him to walk as slow and as silent as he could.

When he reached the end of the corridor, he saw a huge door-like gate, covered with beads hanging from the ceilings. Behind it was a white, transparent, cotton screen.

The servant opened the screen for him, and Arthur walked in. The servant didn't follow him, so he walked slowly through. It was still a long corridor, and it was very dark. However, by the end of it, Arthur could see a silhouette of a door. Light shone through the gaps between the wooden door, as if peeking through the darkness.

Arthur swallowed hard. He was getting scared. The air was filled with smoke and the scent of heavy incense. And he smelled water. He didn't know how or why he could smell water, but he just could. He knew there was water in the room. With flowers. The scent he always smells fromYao's body.

He opened the door slowly.

"Welcome, dear child." Was Yao's voice, welcoming him.

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><p>TBC. Review? Author note above, LOL. Thanks for reading~!<p> 


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